2.7 TDV6 coolant risk

Ed Evans finds his Range Rover Sport on the verge of major coolant loss, and explains a simple check and fix to avoid disaster

On the verge of coolant loss? Follow this simple check and fix to avoid disaster

ASUDDEN LOSS of coolant from deep in the engine bay of a Discovery 3 or Range Rover Sport 2.7-litre V6 diesel could lead to a serious roadside breakdown at best, or a seized engine at worst. And we’ve found exactly the place inside the packed engine bay where this might happen. It’s worth checking this, or asking your garage to check at the next service. If all is well, you’ll have peace of mind. If not, a timely repair could save your engine.

This job cropped up when we were replacing the air conditioning condenser with Steve Grant in Britpart’s workshop, shown in the November issue of LRM. It was only by removing a few parts that we were able see this normally hidden part of the cooling system, and it was only the movement of components while working in the engine bay that luckily disturbed the impending coolant leak, turning it into a waterfall that we couldn’t help but notice. I was lucky to have travelled the 160 miles motorway journey to Bripart with this leak about to happen.

For sure, if it had failed on the road, I’d have been stranded with no chance of a roadside repair.

The problem was a steel coolant pipe that runs from the left side (viewed from the driver’s seat) of the engine, turns in front of the engine, then points downward where it’s connected by a hose to the engine thermostat down below the radiator. In this case, the steel pipe had rusted through from the outside, and only a thick rust scab was holding the coolant in. The steel pipe points vertically down where the hose is attached, so we assume that any salt-laden winter road spray passing through the front grille can settle in the neck of the hose, against the steel pipe, corroding it from the outside.

We could see the steel pipe was a risky replacement job to attempt, given the short time frame we had. Access for replacement is not good, and the pipe is only available as part of a larger assembly, which could have been a lengthy job to fit.

But a bit of initiative cured the problem for negligible cost. Here’s what we found – and how we fixed it.